Brought to you by Fibre One

Happy Birthday to you! From a safe distance...

It's your birthday. You're turning a year older and this whole self-isolation business means that you have to stay indoors and celebrate it with no friends, no fun, and no marking of the wonderful anniversary of your birth, right? Wrong. Sure, you may not be able to go out and celebrate your birthday as you normally would. You might not be able to even see your friends in person. But that does not mean that you can't still celebrate in style. There are loads of little things you can do to make this day as special as it should be. So enjoy it, embrace the abnormality, and make sure that, even if this isn't your biggest birthday celebration ever, it'll still be one that you won't forget.

Treat yourself

Make this a day about YOU. (Which, of course, it is.) Wake up whenever you want, get out of bed whenever you feel like it, eat whatever you want and, most importantly, buy yourself a present. One thing you'll just have to reconcile yourself to is that there will most likely be fewer presents this year. Fewer people means fewer presents. So what's the best way to solve that? Buy yourself some extra presents to make up for the loss. Bonus points if you can time them to arrive on your birthday. Many florists are also delivering online so get yourself some flowers - you deserve it.

Make everything birthday-themed

We're talking balloons everywhere, wearing a massive badge that says you just turned five, and eating only birthday-themed food. Fibre One has just released a new delicious product that would be perfect for this occasion - birthday cake squares. Oh yes, they've now have a cereal bar that tastes like a birthday cake, meaning that you can snack on birthday cake all day long. Hurrah! And the extra bonus? There are only 90 calories in each bar so you can feel fabulous while you're munching. Not that you should be thinking about calories on your birthday, mind, but it's still good to know for when, you know, we're continuing to eat the birthday squares on not our birthday. Because we will absolutely be doing that. Yum. The bars are available in all main supermarkets now so go, go, go! (On your on weekly shopping trip, we mean.)

Get a cake delivered

Many bakeries around the country are still delivering. Go online and check if your local bakery are delivering and if they're doing birthday cakes. If so, then you're sorted! Chocolate, coffee, jam and cream - the cake world is your oyster. If not, just make sure to pick up a birthday cake at the shop on your next trip. You might as well make it an extra fancy one. And throw in another box of those birthday squares while you're at it sure.

Dress up

Get out your best outfit - dress to the nines. This is a big event, after all. Even though it can be great to lounge around in comfy tracksuit bottoms or pyjamas, dressing up can also lift your spirits and shake things up if you're feeling a bit hemmed in. If you're living with your family or roommates, make sure they know that they are also required to dress up for the occasion. This is your day and it will be celebrated accordingly.

Get a big video chat going

You may be trapped inside but you are still very much entitled to a birthday party, even if that birthday party consists only of seeing your friends' blurry faces. Get a big group chat going. Play a few games. Listen to your mates sing you happy birthday with that one straggler voice at the end, belted out by a friend whose internet is lagging five seconds behind everyone else. Classic. (Or at least it will be.)   So grab your birthday outfits, friends, pick out some lovely birthday pressies, and enjoy turning a year older. Even if you have to do it from the maybe-not-so-comfortable-anymore-comfort of your own home. If you are seriously missing out on that big birthday celebration though or you know a friend who is, we've teamed up with Fibre One to host a birthday-themed COMPETITION where you can win a birthday day out worth €2000! Once isolation is over, give yourself the ultimate birthday treat and celebrate with a fabulous gals night out in Dublin with three of your friends. All you have to do is comment on our Facebook post with the day and month of your birthday or else you can nominate a friend. That's it - it's that easy. Check out our Facebook post to be in with a chance to win. Brought to you by Fibre One